All results / Entries / ryannave
Blue Bell Ice Cream is Back But Not to Mississippi Just Yet
Southerners (and my mom) rejoice: After halting production for what seemed to many like an eternity, Blue Bell is back. Here's the announcement from the Texas-based company: Brenham, TX, August 17, 2015 – Blue Bell Creameries announced today it will begin distributing ice cream to select markets on Monday, August …
City Council Offers $7 Million in Cuts to Avoid Furlough, Tax Hikes
The Jackson City Council outlined more than $7 million in savings in order to avoid Mayor Tony Yarber's proposal to furlough city workers and raise local property taxes to fill a budget hole. Yarber proposed a one-day-per-month furlough for full-time employees and a property tax increase of 8 percent to …
Unofficial Totals: Sykes Beats Begley, McGowan Over Stringfellow, McQuirter Shakes Archie; Coleman Wins
Only 8 percent of registered voters participated in yesterday's local Democratic runoff elections. With such low participation, it undoubtedly helped community activist Kathy Sykes, who had wide support among progressive grassroots groups and fellow activists. It's also a majority black district. Sykes is African American; her opponent, attorney, Sam Begley …
$14.6 Million Tax-Forfeited Property Sale Starts Aug. 27
Bidding on 360 parcels of tax-forfeited property will begin tomorrow, city and state officials said today. The Mississippi Secretary of State holds properties when owners fail to pay ad valorem property taxes, which provides funding to city and county governments as well as local schools. Of the approximately $75 million …
Mayor Yarber Issues Statement on Best Buy Closing
This is full, verbatim release from the office Mayor Tony Yarber: “The Administration has been in communication with Best Buy regularly since June 2014 and was advised sales were strong and that the Jackson store would not close. Under Best Buy’s current business model, the company has shifted its focus …
Dan Aykroyd: Mississippi Gun Violence Exceeeds Most of the Entire Western World
Dan Aykroyd, best known for his work as a ghostbuster, Canadian vodka mogul, and supporter of outgoing Sheriff Tyrone Lewis, still wants to help end gun violence in Hinds County. Aykroyd, whom Lewis deputized into the reserves last year and hit the campaign trail for Lewis earlier this year, made …
City Passes a $382 Million Budget Plan
The Jackson City Council passed the compromise budget they worked out with Mayor Tony Yarber's administration. "This budget is as barebones as it gets," Yarber said after the council voted 5-2 on a nearly $400 million spending plan Thursday morning. To close a $15 million deficit, Yarber initially proposed the …
City: Water 'Slightly Brown' But Deemed Safe to Drink
Statement from Jackson's Department of Public Works: Due to unforeseen, external conditions impacting raw water intake at the O.B. Curtis Water Treatment Plant, the water in the distribution system has a slightly brown appearance. The Department of Public Works’ lab resources have reviewed the water quality and with further consultation …
AG Jim Hood: Defense of Same-Sex Adoption Ban 'Procedural'
Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood defended his decision to defend Mississippi in a lawsuit against the state's same-sex adoption ban today, calling it a procedural issue. The Campaign for Southern Equality recently sued the Mississippi Department of Human Services to challenge the constitutionality of the ban, the last law in …
AG Jim Hood Again Hits Back Against GOP Opponent Mike Hurst On Mendenhall Scandal
On Sept. 24, Republican nominee for Mississippi state attorney general alleged that incumbent Democrat Jim Hood interfered with an investigation into a Mendenhall police chief. Hood's campaign characterized Hurst's allegations as desperate and "a complete lie." Today, Hood's camp slammed Hurst again, releasing the following statement, published here verbatim: JACKSON, …
City Official: Burke's Outlet Coming to Jackson
A top city economic-development official says retail is alive and well in Jackson. Jason Goree, Jackson's economic development chief, tweeted this afternoon that a Burke's Outlet store is coming to Jackson. "It's gonna happen!!!!! Retail ain't dead in the Capitol," Goree posted to Twitter. The city has struggled with attracting …
JATRAN Rebranding Survey Under Way
What's in a name? Well, a rebranding of the local the mass-transit system, JATRAN, got under way quietly with a press release from the city this morning. The Transit Services Division wants public input on what to rename the authority. The public-comment period last through October. Citizens can vote through …
Petition Drive to Remove Confederate Emblem from State Flag OK'd
Jackson resident Sharon Brown has received approval to start collecting signatures on a ballot initiative to remove a Confederate emblem from the state's flag. “Today we received our official ballot title and summary from the state and are excited that we are one important step closer to giving the citizens …
Election Official: Initiative 42 So Confusing Many Won't Vote on It
Earlier this month, the 42 for Better Schools campaign asked the Mississippi secretary of state's office to review ballots across all 82 counties in Mississippi after finding errors on ballots in Hinds County. A Mississippi voter in Hinds County found the errors when the voter went to complete an absentee …
540: A New 'Ultra Lounge' on Farish St. Just in Time for JSU Homecoming
As Ward 4 Councilman De'Keither Stamps pointed out this week, the folks behind Johnny T's Bistro and Blues has done what people have been sitting around waiting for the city, state and a procession of developers to do for years: Giving people something else to do downtown, on Farish Street. …
Survey: Yarber Administration Seeks Input on Open Data
From the office of Mayor Tony Yarber: The City of Jackson urges citizens to complete a new survey that will help the city move forward with its open data initiative. Last month, Mayor Tony T. Yarber signed an executive order that will pave the way for a city government that’s …
Haley Barbour Comes Out Against Initiative 42, 42A
The following is a verbatim statement from former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour: Advocates of the proposed constitutional amendment known as Initiative 42 have twisted a passage in my 2007 State of the State address to mislead voters into believing I support their very harmful ballot measure. Not only am I …
Mill Street Gets $3 Million Surprise from MDOT's Dick Hall
Dick Hall, the Central District commissioner to the Mississippi Transportation Commission, had a little surprise for Jackson Mayor Tony Yarber today. Well, not exactly little. It was a $3 million check for Mill Street reconstruction. Hall grew up in Fondren and said he wanted Mill, which runs from downtown northward …
Robert Gray's Mom: I Always Wanted Him to Run for Gov.
Judie Gray Livingston, the woman who didn't even know her eldest child was running for statewide office before August, said she always thought he'd make a good governor. "It was always my desire that he would run for governor," Livingston told the Jackson Free Press. "I think that's every mother's …